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From Southeast Farm Press
A new invasive pest is having a major impact on bermudagrass hay production in south Georgia.
The bermudagrass stem maggot, native to Southeast Asia, has only been spotted in the U.S. for a couple of years, according to University of Georgia Forage Extension Specialist Dennis Hancock. In that short span, however, the pest has left an indelible mark on forage production.
By Clint Thompson, University of Georgia
Pests such as thrips, whiteflies, aphids, beet armyworm and hornworms can devastate vegetable crops.
Potentially just as harmful, though, is the over-use of pesticides, which can lead to pest resurgence, resistance and risk the environment.
Applying the proper amount of each chemical is key to sustaining vegetable productivity in Georgia, according to University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences entomologist David Riley.
From Southeast Farm Press
Target spot has created much concern among cotton growers in the Southeast over the past few years and began showing up in cotton fields in the Carolinas and Virginia for the first time last year.
Little is known about the impact of the fungal disease on yield and quality, but recent research indicates there may be significant differences among varieties.
Georgia soybean producers made a record crop this past year with 37 bushels per acre, but yields might be improved even more by controlling insect pests like the relatively new kudzu bug.
This pest was first observed in the United States in the fall of 2009, in northeast Georgia,” says Phillip Roberts, University of Georgia Extension entomologist.
From Southeast Farm Press
One of the toughest crop pests to stop in Georiga is also the most economically devastating — the stink bug.
With piercing-sucking mouth parts, stink bugs feed on cotton bolls, destroy the seeds and prohibit the growth of lint, according to Michael Toews an associate professor of entomology on the Tifton campus of the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
From Southeast Farm Press.
Once a major threat to the tomato industry, the thrips-vectored tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) has been unable to penetrate the vegetable’s latest line of defense — resistant cultivars.
Scientists from the University of Georgia, University of Florida, Clemson and North Carolina State University have collaborated over the last two decades in an effort to try to alleviate what had become a deadly problem. The results have proven to be beneficial and profitable for tomato growers.
By Sharon Dowdy
University of Georgia, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
Genetics is the science of genes and heredity. It can link a person to a crime scene, a father to a child and — in the case of the kudzu bug — a pest to its home country.
University of Georgia genetic entomologist Tracie Jenkins has used population genetics to track the kudzu bug that was discovered in Georgia three years ago, to its home country of Japan.
By Donn H. Cooper, University of Georgia
U.S. Department of Agriculture-sponsored research at the University of Georgia campus in Tifton is looking into the potential of using a cover crop system to improve soil and prevent tomato spotted wilt virus.
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are using molecular tools to help cotton growers cut back on their use of pesticides in controlling one of their worst adversaries: the root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita). Worldwide, the soil pest costs growers up to 10 percent of their crop, and it’s a constant threat in the Southeastern United States, where it thrives in the sandy soils.
At a time when the sky would appear to be the limit for Southeastern corn yields, managing diseases becomes even more important, meaning a yield difference of as many as 20 to 30 bushels per acre in some fields.
